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asian paper dolls
Post-Apocalyptic Fashion With Dawn
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At the height of the pandemic, I just couldn’t draw post-apocalyptic fashion. It felt somehow too much.
But now that things are starting to feel “normalish” again, I decided I could maybe slip back into that genre for a little paper doll set for the Dolls Du Jour. So, here’s Dawn and her post-apocalyptic fashions.
Also, is post-apocalyptic an oxymoron? Isn’t there not supposed to be anything left after an apocalypses by definition? That maybe overly pedantic.
Let’s move on.
The styles were inspired by my Post-Apocalyptic Fashion pinterest board which is, in turn, inspired by things like Mad Max and Tank Girl and Fall Out (even though I’ve never played Fall Out.)
I need to get to work on the OPDAG prompt for plaids. I am not much of a plaid drawing person, but I have an idea of how I might be able to make plaid work. Julie Matthews has a plaids in photoshop tutorial.
For those keeping count (which I am 95% sure is just me), this is Dolls Du Jour paper doll number seven. Three to go before I hit my 2022 goal.
DDJ: Dawn & “Ancient Chinese” Inspired Fantasy Gowns
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Sometimes I draw printable paper dolls and then by the time I get ready to share them on PTP, I find myself looking at them vaguely and being like, “Why did I draw this? What was I thinking about?”
My hunch, just because I know me, is that there was a distinctly Asian thing happening with this paper doll probably inspired by this weird “ancient Chinese” costumes thing I’ve seen on Pinterest. I find it fascinating, because China has a long and varied dress history (just like everywhere else), but (maybe in part thanks to Video games) there’s a sort of generic “ancient China” look. It’s super cool looking, but kinda like the Victorian view of medieval dress, probably hasn’t got much in common with what people were actually wearing in China a thousand years ago.
I don’t know enough about the history of Chinese dress to speak with any authority, but I don’t think anyone was running around in these, but that’s okay! It’s fun and beautiful. Sometimes, fun and beautiful is enough, you know?
As they do on NPR, I tend to wrap up my posts with two reminders to folks that these paper dolls are made possible by the generous support for my Patrons, so consider joining if you wish.
Opal is a Mermaid!
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Whenever I draw mermaids, I end up thinking of Liana of Liana’s Paper Dolls. This sadly defunct site is an amazing ode to all the things you can do with mermaids and paper dolls. (Seriously, if you haven’t ever spent anytime in her archives, it is well worth a gander.) I don’t think my mermaids even get close to hers. Liana had a fascinating entire world around her mermaids and I just don’t think that way. Creating stories around my paper dolls is not my natural tendency, though I am in awe of folks who can do that.
Today’s mermaid set is part of a larger mermaid project. The set got created, because I was somehow inspired to draw mermaids. My long term plan is that collection of drawings will become into something for Etsy. In the meantime, I’m sharing some parts of the set here as smaller creations.
When I design mermaids, I like it when the tails go up over the doll’s bust, so it feels more like an entire outfit, because I can not figure-out why mermaids would wear clothing (seems totally impractical in you’re underwater). Also, I don’t know if they would need to nurse young. Are mermaids mammals? Fish certainly aren’t.
Generally, I don’t base my mermaids on actual fish (questions about mermaid’s mammal status aside). However, clownfish inspired the tail on the left.
Fun Fact: Mermaid tails are one of the only things that usually get a full sized first draft. I need to make sure the curve of the tail makes sense. The tail usually ends up taking several tries on separate paper before I transfer them into my sketchbook for final penciling and inking. This maybe why I don’t do mermaids that often. Years ago, Julie Matthews did a centaur paper doll and I am still in awe over it. I can not even imagine trying to draw that.
Unrelated, Julie’s Nora and Nellie paper dolls from Paper Doll Review are not mermaids, but are delightful.
Any how, if you want some more mermaid tails for Opal here, there’s been other mermaid paper dolls. Might I direct you to this one with Amethyst and this patron only one with Citrine. Stay tuned, because someday I will get that Etsy set done and there are some really neat mermaid tails in there that I am very proud of. I’ll let you all know when that happens, promise.
A Lady of a Castle and her Pretty Gowns
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Meet Tashi- Talia’s Friend and her Refined Winter Wardrobe
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Meet Talia’s first friend Tashi! My patrons helped me name her. Tashi is a Tibetan name that means “good fortune” and beat out several other names to win the poll I shared on Patreon. Thanks Patrons for helping me name her! I had planned to wait a while to share her, because I had several other Talia dolls finished, but I really wanted to show off her and her fun winter looks, so she jumped the line- as paper dolls sometimes do!
According to my research into Winter trends for this year, I noticed a few things- tapered trousers, pleated skirts, mini-skirts, puffed sleeve sweaters and crop tops with high waisted styles. Interestingly, I also noticed that these lady-like styles got paired with more chunky masculine boots which felt very 1990s. Anyone else getting Doc Marten’s with floral dresses flashbacks? Anyone?
Colorwise, lilac has been an on-trend color for Fall 2021, so I decided to embrace that when I was coloring this paper doll set. I really like pastels for winter, but you have to keep them dusty and vintage feeling, or else you get into saccharine sweet territory.
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Happy Valentine’s Day with a Rockabilly Vintage Paper Doll
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I have a deep fondness for Valentine’s Day paper dolls despite having a long history of having truly awful Valentine’s Days. However, my grandmother used to send me and my sister cards for Valentine’s Day and they often included paper dolls, so I like to continue that tradition here in her honor.
So, first off, Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope it is, if not great, at least uneventful and, tomorrow, there’s a lot of cheap chocolate available which always seems like a nice perk. It’s also a good time to get some roses on sale if you like roses. I confess to being more of a peonies person myself, but each to their own.
For today’s Valentine’s Day paper doll I wanted try out something I hadn’t done before, so I slipped into the world of vintage inspired rockabilly fashion. If that wasn’t a stretch enough, I then gave myself the challenge of coloring the whole thing without using any red, because I do think the color schemes for Valentine’s Day can get a little boring. How. much pink and red does one person need?
If you’re looking for even more Valentine’s Day fun, I did a Valentine’s Paper Doll Coloring Page in my first newsletter of 2022. (Sign up here if you’d like to get it.)
Meanwhile, you can get any number of additional Valentine’s Day paper dolls from previous years here and let me know if you’ve got plans for the holiday in a comment.
Cottagecore Fashions with Opal
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The Early Fashions of the 1930s
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As often happens with my historical paper dolls, we need to talk about reference images. So, Diamond’s hair is based on the hair of Ann Sheridan in this 1935 promotional photo from Paramount Studios. HHer evening gown came from A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938: From the Depression to the Brink of War which I bought for this project. Her underwear is from Simplicity 2288, a sewing pattern from 1930. Everyday Fashions of the Thirties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs provided more source images, because it is one of my go-to 1930’s fashion books.
As I was working on writing up alt-text for my images, I realized this printable paper dolls sort of has a little mini-wardrobe. Since, she has an evening dress, a coat, and a day dress. Plus with the two hats, she’s ready for anything. And, of course, she can share clothing with Amethyst and her 1930s clothing.
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Crocus inspired Princess Gowns with Jade
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DDJ: Retro Space Paper Doll Adventures with Dawn
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There’s something really fun about retro futuristic clothing of the 1960s and I had fun drawing it for today’s printable paper doll. I was tickled when I saw it mentioned in the latest issue of Paper Doll Review. Anyway, I’m always up for drawing paper dolls with retro space clothing. I’ve been watching Star Trek: The Original Series with my partner during the pandemic and it’s a hoot. So, here we have four space mini-dresses, a totally impractical space suit and some very important space boots.
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A Valentine’s Day Paper Doll For 2021
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Valentine’s Day is a holiday I always try to make a paper doll for, because of my grandmother who often sent Valentine’s Day cards with paper dolls in them to me and my sister. This paper doll has a small colorful mix and match wardrobe with some retro dresses and slip on shoes. Don’t forget to cut between the dolls shoulders and her hair, so the tabs fit better.
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